View source for Yale-Lillooet

{{short description|Provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada}}
{{use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}
'''Yale-Lillooet''' was a [[provinces and territories of Canada|provincial]] [[electoral district (Canada)|electoral district]] for the [[Legislative Assembly of British Columbia]], Canada.

It first appeared in the 1966 General Election, when it superseded the older [[Lillooet (electoral district)|Lillooet riding]], which was one of the province's original twelve ridings, as well as the equally old [[Yale (federal electoral district)|Yale riding]], parts of which were also in Yale-Lillooet. Yale-Lillooet was last contested in the 2005 General Election; in 2009 it was largely replaced by [[Fraser-Nicola]], with the [[Fraser Canyon]] portions in the southwest transferred to [[Chilliwack—Hope (federal electoral district)|Chilliwack-Hope]] and the town of Keremeos in the extreme southeast transferred to [[Boundary-Similkameen]].

== Demographics ==
{| class="wikitable"
|Population, 2001
|37,197
|-
|Population Change, 1996–2001
| -2.9%
|-
|Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
|31,889.62
|-
|Pop. Density (people per km<sup>2</sup>)
|1.2
|}

== Geography ==
The riding was largely rural and wilderness in character despite its proximity to the [[Lower Mainland]], it spanned the [[Bridge River]]-[[Lillooet, British Columbia|Lillooet]], [[Ashcroft, British Columbia|Ashcroft]]-[[Thompson Canyon]], [[Fraser Canyon]], [[Nicola Valley|Nicola]] and [[Similkameen River|Similkameen Districts]].

Since creation its shape remained relatively unchanged despite some minor boundary adjustments, with (e.g.) [[Ashcroft, British Columbia|Ashcroft]]-[[Cache Creek, British Columbia|Cache Creek]] joining [[Cariboo South]] in some elections and the [[Similkameen River|Similkameen]] area joined to one of the [[Okanagan]] ridings. Its core towns - Lillooet, Lytton, Yale, Boston Bar, Hope, Princeton, Merritt and Spences Bridge remained permanently in the riding until its demise.

Its boundary was roughly described by a quadrangle formed by and including the towns of:
*[[Gold Bridge, British Columbia|Gold Bridge]]-[[Bralorne, British Columbia|Bralorne]]
*[[Hope, British Columbia|Hope]]
*[[Keremeos, British Columbia|Keremeos]]
*[[Cache Creek, British Columbia|Cache Creek]]-[[Ashcroft, British Columbia|Ashcroft]]

Other towns within the riding are:
*[[Hedley, British Columbia|Hedley]]
*[[Princeton, British Columbia|Princeton]]
*[[Tulameen, British Columbia|Tulameen]]
*[[Coalmont, British Columbia|Coalmont]]
*[[Aspen Grove, British Columbia|Aspen Grove]]
*[[Logan Lake, British Columbia|Logan Lake]]
*[[Lac Le Jeune, British Columbia|Lac le Jeune]]
*[[Lower Nicola, British Columbia|Lower Nicola]]
*[[Spences Bridge, British Columbia|Spences Bridge]]
*[[Lytton, British Columbia|Lytton]]
*[[Boston Bar, British Columbia|Boston Bar]]-[[North Bend, British Columbia|North Bend]]
*[[Spuzzum, British Columbia|Spuzzum]]
*[[Hope, British Columbia|Hope]]
*[[Lillooet]]
*[[Shalalth, British Columbia|Shalalth]]-[[Seton Portage, British Columbia|Seton Portage]]
*[[Fountain, British Columbia|Fountain]]
*[[Pavilion, British Columbia|Pavilion]]
*[[Hat Creek, British Columbia|Hat Creek]]

The riding's largest and therefore electorally dominant population centre was [[Merritt, British Columbia|Merritt]]. The riding was heavily mountainous and all its towns were all fairly isolated from each other by terrain and the necessarily difficult roads of the canyons and mountain valleys interconnecting them. Many of the electorate are scattered through smaller communities throughout the region, particularly on [[Indian reserve]]s and in recreational property areas of the [[Bridge River]] Country, the [[Nicola River|Nicola]]-[[Similkameen River|Similkameen]] and the [[Fraser Canyon]].

Yale-Lillooet had the highest proportion of aboriginal voters in southern [[British Columbia]] and one of the highest proportions in the province. All reserves and local bands of the [[Nlaka'pamux]] and [[Nicola people]]s were included within the riding, as well as those of the Upper [[St'at'imc]] and the upriver [[Sto:lo]] around [[Hope, British Columbia|Hope]] and [[Yale, British Columbia|Yale]].

== History ==
[[Hope, British Columbia|Hope]], [[Yale, British Columbia|Yale]], Boston Bar, Lillooet, Lytton and Princeton are some of the oldest towns in the province, dating to the founding of the [[Crown Colony of British Columbia|Crown Colony]] during the [[Fraser Canyon Gold Rush]]. [[Merritt, British Columbia|Merritt]] is of slightly later date and was an isolated ranching town until the opening of the [[Coquihalla Highway]] in the mid-1980s, which caused its population to boom.

The riding has traditionally been a [[swing riding]] with both strong conservative and liberal elements in its politics, and is also considered a [[bellwether riding]] although not always winding up in Government benches. The major industries are forestry and transportation-oriented services and tourism and recreation.

== Members of the Legislative Assembly ==
Over the district's existence, it elected the following members of the [[Legislative Assembly of British Columbia]]:

{| border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- bgcolor="CCCCCC"
! Parliament
! Years
! colspan="2" | Member
! Party
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[28th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|28th]]
| 1966–1969
| rowspan="3" {{Canadian party colour|BC|NDP|background}} | &nbsp; &nbsp;
| rowspan="3" | [[Bill Hartley (politician)|Bill Hartley]]
| rowspan="3" | [[British Columbia New Democratic Party|New Democrat]]
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[29th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|29th]]
| 1969–1972
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[30th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|30th]]
| 1972–1975
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[31st Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|31st]]
| 1975–1979
| rowspan="3" {{Canadian party colour|BC|Social Credit|background}} | &nbsp; &nbsp;
| rowspan="3" | [[Thomas Waterland]]
| rowspan="3" | [[British Columbia Social Credit Party|Social Credit]]
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[32nd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|32nd]]
| 1979–1983
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[33rd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|33rd]]
| 1986–1991
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[34th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|34th]]
| 1986–1991
| {{Canadian party colour|BC|Social Credit|background}} | &nbsp; &nbsp;
| [[James Rabbitt]]
| [[British Columbia Social Credit Party|Social Credit]]
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[35th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|35th]]
| 1991–1996
| rowspan="2" {{Canadian party colour|BC|NDP|background}} | &nbsp; &nbsp;
| rowspan="2"| [[Harry Lali]]
| rowspan="2"| [[British Columbia New Democratic Party|NDP]]
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[36th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|36th]]
| 1996–2001
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[37th Parliament of British Columbia|37th]]
| 2001–2005
| {{Canadian party colour|BC|Liberal|background}}| &nbsp; &nbsp;
| [[David Chutter]]
| [[British Columbia Liberal Party|Liberal]]
|-
| bgcolor="CCCCCC" | [[38th Parliament of British Columbia|38th]]
| 2005–2009
| {{Canadian party colour|BC|NDP|background}} | &nbsp; &nbsp;
| [[Harry Lali]]
| [[British Columbia New Democratic Party|NDP]]
|}

== Election results ==
{{2005 British Columbia general election/Yale-Lillooet}}
{{Election FPTP begin | title=[[2001 British Columbia general election|B.C. General Election 2001]]: Yale-Lillooet}}
|-
{{CANelec |BC |Liberal |[[David Chutter]] |9,845 |60.07% | |$35,513}}
|-
{{Canadian party colour|BC|NDP|row}}
|[[New Democratic Party of British Columbia|NDP]]
|Victor York
|align="right"|2,817
|align="right"|17.19%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$26,185
{{CANelec |BC |Green |Harue Kanemitsu |1,657 |10.11% |&ndash; |$2,116}}
{{CANelec|BC|All Nations|Don Moses|1,126|6.87%|&ndash;|$6,419}}
{{CANelec|BC|Marijuana|Vincent Royer|807|4.92%||$494}}
{{CANelec|BC|People's Front|Dorothy-Jean O'Donnell|136|0.84%||$252}}
{{CANelec/total |Total valid votes |16,388 |100.00%}}
{{CANelec/total |Total rejected ballots |84 |0.51%}}
{{CANelec/total |Turnout |16,472 |68.99%}}
|}
{{1996 British Columbia general election/Yale-Lillooet}}
*Liberal totals reflect James Rabbitt's personal swing when he was a Social Credit Member.
{{1991 British Columbia general election/Yale-Lillooet}}
{{1986 British Columbia general election/Yale-Lillooet}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/cen01/profiles/PED_79.pdf BC Stats - 2001 (pdf)]
*[http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/sov01/yal.pdf Results of 2001 election (pdf)]
*[http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/ceofin2001.pdf 2001 Expenditures (pdf)]
*[http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/sov96/va/sov96_yal.htm Results of 1996 election]
*[http://www.elections.bc.ca/rpt/ceorpt_5.pdf 1996 Expenditures (pdf)]
*[http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/sov91/sov91-103.html Results of 1991 election]
*[http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/sov91/sov91-20-1.html 1991 Expenditures]
*[http://www.leg.gov.bc.ca Website of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia]

{{British Columbia provincial electoral districts|1966|2009}}

[[Category:Former provincial electoral districts of British Columbia]]
[[Category:Lillooet]]